Concrete Slab Foundation - Process & Best Practices

The most common foundation in the South is a Slab On Grade. In this video, Matt will give you an overview of the process as well as some Best Practice tips you can use on your #BUILD!
Best, Matt Risinger

[RayneX]

Is there a pre-video to this? Ground preparation, insulating?

[mtnton]

Man, I really have to tell you, I really like watching your videos. It's so refreshing to see people doing things right. I hate seeing shortcuts taken; they cause problems for everyone else later. Thank you for doing stuff right and showing us how its done.

[jayphillips]

Should have also included some thoughts on slab subgrade, arguably the most overlooked yet critical part of a good slab.

[zwartel]

Here in Japan it’s a rule to cover a foundation with vinyl or anti vapor film and finally I found this American YT video that is will explain in English the language that I 100% understand... thanks

[Padoinky]

I spent my summers, during my under graduate yrs, working for my dads general contractor firm - most years we had NYS DOT contracts to rehab elevated bridge decks on major interstate highways in the central NY region.... learned a lot about the science of reinforced concrete construction - expansion, damage caused by water seepage, rebar rust due to road salt, jackhammering out the existing concrete from around the existing rebar, sandblasting the rust off of the rebar forms so that they can be repaired/prepped for the new pour, setting up the pour machinery, curing the new pour and watering same.... every summer it was this or the equally difficult tasks of site prep for site clearing and foundation prep and then the post-construction site work of pouring asphalt parking lots, egress roads and framing/pouring concrete sidewalks

[bradmacmillan]

Thank you, it is so hard to find a well spoken and knowledgeable concrete guy! Lots of information that I can use on my fireplace pad that I am building myself. Thank again.

[DrivingWithJake]

Fun going back and watching some of these old videos. :)

[jeesjees]

Very interesting. In Finland we stopped putting plastic vapor barriers under slabs in the 90s. For one because they could get damaged during construction, but mostly because it prevents the slab from drying downwards after pouring or a later water leak.

Instead with clay soil we use weeping tiles, washed gravel for capillary barrier and underside insulation. The climate is much colder here.

But in the south it might be different because the ground is so warm and high in moisture, a gravel vapor barrier might just not cut it?

[ZimorKilled]

Matt, as an alternative to Termimesh, I would suggest using a sealant that expands and adheres to concrete and wood, as the foundation contracts and a gap form between PVC pipe and concrete. I would suggest something like Contega HF. I actually hollowed around the sill plate at the PVC pipe stub-up and filled the hole around pipe with this stuff. Its pliable, and adheres to everything, and will never harden. Whereas, the Tertmimesh maybe a good product, but if the concrete cures and contracts, wouldn't the SS mesh pull away from the PVC pipe over time?

[dougdobbs]

I'm planning a slab foundation for an addition to my house here in Pennsylvania, this is REALLY helpful. Thanks!

[ScottValentine]

Great video, there were a few points in here I have not encountered in construction. The mixture of Steel mesh to prevent hairline cracks, 45-degree reo near penetrations and covering or flooding the slab. Maybe add a note about post-tension and its use in mutli-story buildings to save costs or increase spans between columns. But that's probably a video for another day.

[deyc]

That's what I'm talking about! I love it! I love to see you curing it--it's that 40% extra strength that no one seems to care about. I think I would have gone with macrofiber over the wire. I really like the 45 placed bar and the termite mesh around the penetrations. I think this convinced me that floor penetrations are to be prevented if at all practical.

[johnbecich]

God help anyone who has to cut into that slab, on some distantly-future date, to make plumbing repairs. Thank goodness a video exists, for benefit of owner.

In 1976, I had a garage fire in my parents' southern California garage, caused by an accident when working on a car. I was unhurt, but the whole-tank-of-gasoline-fueled fire ruined the finely-finished slab-on-grade garage floor. The highly-cracked floor was a mess. The whole slab had to be jackhammered, down to the dirt below, all the way to the peripheral foundation, and re-poured with new concrete. I suppose this replacement would have been vastly more expensive, had the floor been as heavily reinforced with re-bar as is the floor demonstrated in Matt's video.

[bip_bip_lechuga]

I'm a Geotechnical Engineer-In-Training, and I was always under the impression that the Stego barrier was meant to help keep the moisture content in the soil maintained.

[hippo-potamus]

Expert craftsmen like you Matt are far and few in between. Another excellent video.

[AngelTorres-tknw]

Matt, when you are going to do a TV show, like a This Old house.
I think that you are at that level already.

[marthadineen]

Pretty good video. Looked this up to try and understand slab on grade casting for an exam. Helpful :)

[franklinkemp]

Your vapor barrier is right on, I just read some comments on another presentation and most were saying the use of the plastic was to keep the moister from being sucked out of the concrete by the ground and/or the concrete needed to stay moist or it would be brittle. One guy said the more layers of plastic the more concrete it would support???? I have no idea what that one was about. I guess it takes all kinds....over heard a roofer telling a trainee that the purpose of the felt paper on a roof was to keep the sheeting dry until they can put shingles down. I guess the felt paper has no bearing on the integrity of the water proofing of the roof. I guess if you can put sheeting and then just shingles before it rains your good to Go. OMG
You never know what people think the reasons are for doing something, but, I guess as long as it is getting done right, it shouldn't matter.

[nathanmcintosh]

my only real question is, how are you able to find clients that appreciate paying to have a job done right? I wouldn't mind seeing a video on that process, as much as I learnt from this video, I could do with some advice on customer communication and convincing that long term a job well done is cheaper then short term monetary savings. Great video and channel btw. I hope you keep it up. And I look forward to the Wranglerstar collaboration, that is who introduced me to your channel.

[TitusLivy]

I really appreciate your videos! They're very helpful!